


Meta and the Temple of the Ancients

by Axeplosion (AshenEldritch)



Category: Kirby - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Galacta and the temporal warrior are seperate characters, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Roleswap AU, Time Shenanigans, Time Travel, child meta, meta swears alot, who taught this actual child how to swear?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 13:04:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18250409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshenEldritch/pseuds/Axeplosion
Summary: The creation of a stable time loop is ensured by the existence of itself. It follows that a Temporal Warrior would take steps to ensure they become as such, right? It’s logical, in the nonsensical kind of way that anything to do with time is.Meta doesn’t really care about temporal physics, being a child and all, but unfortunately for them, they don’t have much of a choice. Luckily for Meta, they meet Galacta, who happens to know their way around this mess. Yay! Unluckily for both of them, they don’t get along. Unyay!





	Meta and the Temple of the Ancients

**Author's Note:**

> -in this roleswap au, the kids are swapped with the adults and vis versa. More specifically, Kirby (aka Stellar Knight) was swapped with Meta Knight (who’s just Meta for now). Galacta got swapped with the Unnamed person who sealed him away. Its also worth mentioning that bandana and dedede got swapped too, altho neither of them will be very prominent, if they show up at all.  
> -this is a novelisation of a video game that exists in my head. That means boss fights :3  
> -Pronouns. Meta is a kid, so they haven’t thought about gender, like, ever. So they default to they/them. Galacta is a bit older, so he goes by he/him. This is also to avoid confusion with Meta. Stellar use whatever, usually he/they, so i switch it up based on convenience.  
> -Warnings: so far, we got two, (2) children who say shit a lot, aaaand mild violence :p

Time is a funny thing. Most assume it to be a linear thing, a nice, neat thing in which events progress in an orderly and agreeable fashion. They assume that once a second is spent, that it can never be gained again, and it is lost to the abstract void where mere concepts go when discarded.  
These people are quite logical in their assumptions of these facts, especially since, to their knowledge, nothing has proved otherwise. We mustn’t laugh at these people for being so wrong, not just because it is an unjust cruelty but also because we, in all our vast knowledge, have learned barely a fraction of the secrets of the universe. In short, we are likely to be just as wrong.  
What we do believe is that Time is not linear with respect to the third dimension, but spherical with respect to the fourth. We know of how Time can be dilated with speed and gravity, and we know of how the past is the future, the future has carved itself into stone, and how the actions of the present are nothing more then motions by puppets who think themselves real. Its as comforting as it is terrifying, knowing that tragedies are as fake as comedies.  
The Nature and Tragedy of Time itself is demonstrated most clearly in the Legend of the Temporal Warrior. The Temporal Warrior, as fearsome as he was, is a normal person like you or me. he’ll be a knight, in service to a peaceful triarchy, and he’ll work both night and day to keep the people safe and happy. He was a very happy man, but one day, something changed, and he left to take a pilgrimage to the temple of the ancients. He won’t say what’s happening to him, and I believe, on some level, he must know. He’ll begin the treacherous transformation into the Temporal Warrior, and he’ll betray all those he holds dear. How could such a dedicated knight turn so quickly on his allies? He kept that secret, but we might postulate that although he made the decision, he was not willing to do so. I’d like to remind the readers of the spherical nature of time, it was predestined that the honorable knight would fall into the clutches of evil. This fall will be secured by the Temporal Warrior himself, and the Knight will be puppeteered into his own trap.  
Since then, the Warrior will be seen many times through history, and will always stir up war and misery. The once peaceful land that the Knight swore to protect fell by the Warriors hand, and any attempts to subdue him failed to the ruthlessness of Time. There’s not much we can do but hope that the Temporal Warrior doesn’t take an interest in us...  
-Fairytales from The Ancients, by an Unknown Author, translated to Popstarian Common by Mr Dandy Lion of Floria.

Meta was bored. They’d already exhausted everything that they wanted to do today, and the sun was barely up! Breaking into Castle Waddle Dee proved to be very boring when most everyone was asleep, and bothering Stellar Knight got nothing but the threat of being cuddled until Meta fell back asleep. Stellar could, would, and has done so, so he was left alone. In Meta’s opinion, the people of Dreamland slept too much, and they should all wake up already so there’d be something to do!  
Presently, Meta was wandering through the nearby forest, poking at things with a stick (They’d use Galaxia, but she didn’t let them use her for general shenanigans like poking awake a scarfy and running away). They were also putting whatever little bugs they found into a bag, with the vague idea of unleashing it somewhere boring, like an office. Eventually, though, Meta was struggling to keep the forty or so bugs from crawling out every time they tried to put one in, while Galaxia watched them, amused.  
The sun was higher in the sky by the time Meta was satisfied with their haul, so they figured the day had started back in the village. After quickly climbing a tree (maybe not so quickly, there was a really cool beetle that Bugzy would love), Meta located the village, which was a lot farther then they thought. Had they really gone that far? Shrugging, Meta began to climb down, but froze halfway when they spotted a stranger.  
He was clad in shining armor, like a knight from King Bandanas storybooks. Behind him were a pair of huge, fluffy white wings. These were feathery, unlike Stellar’s weird ones. Looking closer, Meta could also see glowing red eyes through a mask, and a pair of golden horns that curved back and up. None of this was what scared Meta, no, that belonged to the unsheathed sword the man carried, and the way he was looking around, like he was trying to find something.  
“Come out, come out, wherever you are, Meta!” The Knight called, making Meta’s blood turn to ice. “Both running and hiding is futile. Cease postponing the inevitable!”  
Meta stayed silent and stock-still, watching the Knight wander closer and closer, waiting for him to look up and see them. Numbly, they grabbed the bag of bugs. When he walked underneath their tree, they shifted into an attack position and the man stopped. He looked up, only to receive a face full of bugs and small child. The knight stumbled, letting Meta get a few hits in, but recovered faster than anticipated. He blocked a strike using his shield, and retaliated with a kick to Meta’s chest, sending them flying and knocking out their breath.  
“Don’t play games with me, child,” the Knight spat, clearly mad about the bugs. “the only reason you’re still alive is because I need you. Now get up, we have places to go.”  
Meta shakily got to their feet, still struggling for breath. The Knight strode towards them, stopping a few feet away when they didn’t move.  
Meta scowled at the Knight. “Who the hell do you think you are?”  
The Knight paused. “I am the Temporal Warrior, and I need you, small and annoying that you are, to play your part like a good little child.”  
What a pretentious jackass. Meta called his magic to him and stuck out his tongue at the Temporal Warrior, teleporting away before he could react.  
They landed just outside of Castle Waddle Dee as planned. Meta then fell on their butt, not as planned, feeling super lightheaded from the drain on their magic. There was a lot of commotion coming from the left, and as soon as Meta’s head cleared a little, it was easy to see why. There was a pink tear in the air, and groups of Waddle Dee soldiers cordoning the area off. Directing the soldiers, much to Metas relief, was both Stellar Knight and King Bandana Dee.  
Meta ran towards the two, really wishing they had wings of their own. They were almost there when the air in front of them was split in two, red light leaking through, forcing Meta to skid to a stop.  
“I told you, didn’t I?” Meta spun around to see the Temporal Warrior towering over them. “Running is futile.” And with no further aplomb, Meta was picked up and tossed through the rift, like a sack of potatoes, if potatoes could swear.  
As they fell, Meta could hear people yelling for him coming through the tear, which was abruptly cut off as it closed. Then, they hit a tree branch. Then another. Finally, Meta landed on what felt, and sounded like, a person.  
“OW! Shit! What the hell?” Said the thing that felt and sounded like a person. Meta couldn’t agree more.

**Author's Note:**

> Thus ends the opening cinematic, first cutscene, tutoriel, and second cutscene. 
> 
> That whole last bit took place in like, 2 minutes


End file.
